All Americans should have equal opportunity to achieve financial independence, while also acquiring the skills to effectively manage their finances and make informed financial decisions.

Unfortunately, at the present time, this is not the case. Even now, 25 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) promoted “economic self-sufficiency” for people with disabilities, we continue to face many systemic hurdles that block access to a life of financial independence. Overcoming these challenges will not be easy, but today – for the very first time – we have a clearer picture of the path forward – with the release of a new National Disability Institute (NDI) report, Banking Status of Adults with Disabilities: Findings from the FDIC Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households.

Based on data mined from FDIC’s2013 National Survey on Unbanked and Underbanked Households, the report highlights the nearly 50 percent unbanked and underbanked status and financial behaviors of people with disabilities. This report provides much-needed quantitative data that – until now – has been missing in research being conducted at the intersection of the disability and asset development communities.

STD AwarenessHalf of all sexually active young people in the United States will get an STD by the time they're 25—and most won't know it.

Work-Related Asthma — 22 States, 2012The prevalence of current asthma significantly differed by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and education. Prevalence was highest among persons aged 45–64 years (9.4%), women (11.4%), blacks (12.5%), and those with less than a high school education (9.5%).

Emergency Department Visits for Drug Poisoning: United States, 2008–2011Among persons aged 35–49, the ED visit rate for drug poisonings was higher among females (51.2 per 10,000 persons) compared with males (31.9 per 10,000 persons). The ED visit rate for females was higher among those aged 20–34 and 35–49 compared with those aged 0–19 and 50 and over. Females had a higher ED visit rate for drug poisonings that were self-inflicted compared with males.

Prevent Cervical Cancer! PodcastCervical cancer can be prevented. Listen as two friends—one a doctor—talk about screening tests and early detection. Learn what test you might need.

Preventing Teen Pregnancy: A Key Role for Health Care ProvidersLARC is safe to use, does not require taking a pill each day or doing something each time before having sex, and can prevent pregnancy for 3 to 10 years, depending on the method. Less than 1% of LARC users would become pregnant during the first year of use.

Home Canning and BotulismHome canning is an excellent way to preserve garden produce and share it with family and friends, but it can be risky or even deadly if not done correctly and safely.

2015 National Conference on Health StatisticsCDC invites you to submit a poster abstract for this year’s Poster Session at the 2015 National Conference on Health Statistics, to be held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in North Bethesda, MD, August 24–26, 2015. Conference registration is free and attendees will have the opportunity to meet and talk with NCHS staff from all surveys and programs, as well as representatives from other government agencies.

LabTV: Young Scientist on a Mission to Cure Alzheimer’s Disease

Time for another LabTV video! Today, I’d like you to meet Melissa Young, a third-year graduate student in the College of Pharmacy, University of Georgia, Athens. Young, who is doing research in the lab of James Franklin, says her scientific goal is to help build the scientific case that oxidative stress plays a key role in Alzheimer’s disease.

Young also has a personal reason for wanting to her research to succeed. From her experiences with a beloved grandmother and aunt, she has seen first-hand the heartbreaking effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia on both patients and their loved ones. Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease and no treatments to halt or reverse its progression. That’s one of the reasons why Young has chosen to go into an area of science focused on translating basic discoveries into new therapeutics.

Another motivation for Young’s decision to pursue a scientific career is that she’s a hands-on person who hates to sit around for hours staring at a computer screen. Working in a lab allows this native of Greenville, NC to channel her boundless energy in creative and challenging ways. Under the guidance of her graduate adviser, Young is learning how to ask thought-provoking questions, design experiments aimed at answering those questions, run experiments, analyze the results, and maybe, if lucky, celebrate success—if not, learn from failure and head back to the lab bench!

The Occupational Health Safety Network (OHSN) is a free, web-based surveillance system designed by NIOSH to reduce preventable injuries among healthcare personnel. The network is a voluntary system that enables near real-time, secure tracking of occupational injuries by type, occupation, location, and risk factors using data already collected by healthcare facilities for OSHA reporting. The system allows healthcare facilities to:

Identify the most common injuries occurring at their facility and how they occurred.

Evaluate whether interventions are effective at reducing injuries by monitoring trends over time.

Access innovative intervention tools developed by NIOSH and other OHSN participating facilities.

Generate injury data reports as needed to meet OSHA regulatory and Joint Commission accreditation requirements.From January 1, 2012 through September 30, 2014, 112 U.S. healthcare facilities reported 3,972 slips, trips, and falls injuries (STF); 4,674 patient handling and movement injuries; and 2,034 workplace violence injuries for a total of 10,680 OSHA-recordable injuries in these categories. See the recent article in the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) for more information on the data collected.

Future improvements to OHSN include plans to develop a module to systematically collect detailed information on occupational sharps injuries and blood and body fluid exposures among HCP that will assist in creating prevention strategies for those hazards. Send us your thoughts on what other injury types would be most useful to you and your organization. While OSHN started in healthcare, the system can be applied to nearly any industry with computer and internet access where occupational injury data are routinely collected. Let us know which industries could most benefit from a similar effort.

The Division of Drug Information (DDI) is CDER's focal point for public inquiries. We serve the public by providing information on human drug products and drug product regulation by FDA.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Kybella (deoxycholic acid), a treatment for adults with moderate-to-severe fat below the chin, known as submental fat. Using Kybella for the treatment of fat outside of the submental area is not approved and is not recommended.

Kybella is identical to the deoxycholic acid that is produced in the body. Deoxycholic acid produced in the body helps the body absorb fats. Kybella is a cytolytic drug, which when injected into tissue physically destroys the cell membrane. When properly injected into submental fat, the drug destroys fat cells; however, it can also destroy other types of cells, such as skin cells, if it is inadvertently injected into the skin.

Kybella is administered as an injection into the fat tissue in the submental area. Patients may receive up to 50 injections in a single treatment, with up to six single treatments administered no less than one month apart. Kybella is being provided in single patient use vials and should not be diluted or mixed with any other compounds.

The safety and effectiveness of Kybella for treatment of submental fat were established in two clinical trials which enrolled 1,022 adult participants with moderate or severe submental fat. Participants were randomly assigned to receive Kybella or a placebo for up to six treatments. The results showed that reductions in submental fat were observed more frequently in participants who received Kybella versus placebo.

Kybella can cause serious side effects, including nerve injury in the jaw that can cause an uneven smile or facial muscle weakness, and trouble swallowing. The most common side effects of Kybella include swelling, bruising, pain, numbness, redness and areas of hardness in the treatment area.

Every 13 seconds an older adult is injured from a fall in the United States. Every 20 minutes one of these older adults dies from a fall. But falls are not an inevitable part of aging. There are specific things that can be done to safeguard older adults so they stay healthy, active and independent longer.

This special edition of Frontiers in Public Health highlights evidence-based programming and clinical interventions for older adults. CDC authors collaborated and contributed to this important publication, which includes approximately 25 commentaries and 35 full-length articles. The volume is available online and will become an e-book in May 2015, providing researchers, clinicians, and community organizations the tools and information needed to protect and improve the health of the rapidly growing population of older adults in the United States and throughout the world. The full volume and upcoming e-book are available on the Frontiers website.

CDC and Older Adult Fall Prevention

CDC developed a tool kit for health care providers called Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths and Injuries, or STEADI, designed to help make fall prevention an integral part of primary care.

STEADI includes three things clinicians can do during office visits with patients 65 and older:

Ask patients if they have fallen in the past year, feel unsteady, or worry about falling;

Review medications and stop, switch, or reduce the dosage of drugs that can increase the risk of falling; and

Recommend vitamin D supplements of at least 800 IU/day with calcium.

CDC collaborates with federal and non-federal partners to build the knowledge base for fall prevention and to ensure the best evidence is used to guide action.

Facebook: Falls are not an inevitable part of aging. Read the latest on fall prevention programs for older adults in the new special edition of Frontiers in Public Health. This is a Research Topic Issue of the Public Health Education and Promotion section of the journal highlighting evidence-based programming for older adults. http://bit.ly/1P6t1Ro